China's Growing Sea Trade with Europe 1517-1800

by James Graham

The traditional Chinese world order utilised the tribute system
to place China at the centre of the civilised world. In exchange
for recognising China's superiority, other states were granted permission
to trade with China. It was this China centric world order in 1517
that European ships sailed into. The Chinese perceived each European
country as just another nation drawn to China in the way Siam, Japan
and others were. The European maritime powers however saw the tribute
system as a means to an end not an end in and of itself. After initial
attempts to use the system to gain competitive advantage over their
rivals, the Europeans played only a nominal role within it.

The Chinese worldview between 1517 and 1800 resulted from a diplomatic
tradition that over a long period had defined a set of values, expectations
and habits. This tradition was largely an outgrowth of the administration
of China itself. Every group in contact with China was entitled
to a place in the Chinese world order. The lack of curiosity in
neo-Confucian culture and the prevailing idea that foreigners were
not worth much attention severely limited how large a part foreigners
could play. The main concern of China was to maintain its superiority
and in periods of military weakness its security. The classical
Chinese tradition was to utilise both militant and pacifist approaches
to control non-Chinese groups. The pacifist extended trading opportunities
in return for peaceful cooperation and the military option was always
available should the pacifist approach prove ineffective. The Chinese
world order was however only unified at the Chinese end with many
groups seeing the benefits of accepting it worth the implication
of superiority. Along with other Confucian ideals China's worldview
did become accepted in differing degrees in Vietnam, Siam and Central
Asia. The Chinese world order presented an ideal of how the world
should be, not how they necessarily were

The tribute system was the centrepiece of the Chinese world order.
The giving of gifts and the ritual of a foreign prince or his envoy
kowtowing in front of the Chinese Emperor were part of a hierarchy
that placed the Emperor at the centre of the civilised world. This
was seen as foreign acceptance of the superior status of the Chinese
Emperor and thus of China itself. China's rulers viewed trade as
subordinate to tribute and on many occasions sacrificed economic
substance to preserve political form. Tribute missions were presented
with valuable gifts that showcased China's economic and cultural
supremacy and were allowed to conduct limited trade in Peking. Combined
this made tribute missions a profitable activity in and of themselves.
Even more important was the trading advantages that could be gained
from being enrolled as a tribute-paying nation. The rewards the
system offered and the imbalance in power encouraged foreigners
to accept the inferior status demanded by the tribute system. Trade
with China was always relatively more important to the foreigners
than it was to the Chinese rulers who prided themselves on their
nation's self-sufficiency. The tribute system was the means by which
foreigners were subordinated into China's world order.

Portugal the most adventurous of the European sea faring nations
reached China first in 1517. The Portuguese first instinct was to
make contact with China's rulers and a mission to Peking by Tome
Pires was undertaken in 1520-21. While the Portuguese viewed this
as a friendly meeting between the representatives of two equal rulers,
the Chinese viewed it within their own diplomatic tradition. They
thus recorded the Portuguese as having paid tribute. The Portuguese
however were refused the right to offer further tribute to the Ming.
From the mid 1550s and probably earlier, local Chinese officials
allowed the Portuguese to settle in Macao and use it as an outpost
from which they could trade with China. Using Macao, the Portuguese
acted as intermediaries trading Chinese goods for spices and other
Asian goods, selling portions of all in Europe.

The Portuguese in Macao were regularly cut off from the rest of
their Asian empire causing them to become increasingly like the
Chinese traders they were constantly in contact with. The Portuguese
rarely paid tribute, sending missions only in 1670, 1678, 1727 and
1753 after their initial mission. The 1670 and 1678 missions were
undertaken at a time of desperation after the Qing's policy of clearing
the coast of China was strangling Macao. Their role as intermediaries
in inter Asian trade especially the Sino-Japanese trade rather than
as the collection point for transhipment of goods initially intended
to Europe displays how Asianised the Portuguese in Macao became.
The Chinese regime considered Macao Chinese territory and intermarriage
and the increasing decentralisation and corruption of the Portuguese
empire confused the situation further. The sheer size of Chinese
trade also ensured the Portuguese were never more than bit players
in China's foreign trade. Reliant as the Portuguese were on continued
good relations with China to continue trading they were very much
the weaker member in the relationship. Their acceptance of this
situation allowed them to assume a profitable but subordinated position in the Chinese world order.

The Dutch despite making regular tribute missions and even providing
military support had great difficulty in establishing a satisfactory
trading relationship with the Qing. The Dutch conquered Taiwan in
the 1620s with the aim of creating a base for trade with China.
The consolidation of the Manchu rule saw the Dutch send tribute
missions to China in 1656, 1663 (not formally accepted), 1667 and
1686 in the hope of gaining trading concessions. Dutch requests
included permission to trade every year, a fortified trading post
in the Amoy-Quemoy area and a joint military attack on Taiwan after
its fall to Ming loyalists. Successful joint military operations
were undertaken against Quemoy but disagreements between the two
allies decreased their desire for future cooperation. Meagre results
from tribute missions and disappointing profits from trade led to
a decline in Dutch interest in trading directly with China. After
a period of frequent contact the Dutch did not send a single ship
to China between 1690 and 1729. Chinese junks continued to trade
with Batavia providing the Dutch with an alternative source for Chinese goods.